Einstein's Secret

By: Irving Belateche

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Finalist, Science Fiction Novels, 2016 Best Book Awards

It's 1955, and Albert Einstein lies in a hospital bed, deathly ill. He suddenly stirs, asks his assistant for paper and pen, then scribbles something down. Minutes later, he dies.

History tells us that Einstein jotted down equations that night. But struggling scholar Jacob Morgan believes that history is wrong. He's convinced that Einstein wrote a deathbed confession that night - a secret that the great scientist didn't want to take to his grave.

Jacob has spent his entire adult life obsessively hunting down that secret - with nothing to show for it but the scorn of his colleagues and the tattered remnants of a once-promising teaching career.

But now, thanks to a lucky break, Jacob has a chance to get his life back on track. His appointment as an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia is a fresh start, and he's vowed to end his pursuit of Einstein's secret.

Until history chooses this moment to deliver him one more clue. A clue that leads him to an impossible and unbelievable discovery: time travel.

And so begins the last leg of Jacob's desperate quest, one where history is not only changeable - it's changing. All by itself. And if Jacob doesn't rescue Einstein's secret, everything that he's ever known will disappear forever.

©2014 Irving Belateche (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Fast-paced stand-alone SF story

Jacob Morgan has been appointment as an adjunct professor of history of science at the University of Virginia and so he’s determined to leave behind his lifelong obsession with Einstein’s final moments. Einstein died in April 18th, 1955 after saying a few words in German which the nurse, who was with him, didn’t understand. He also wrote some equations. However, Jacob is convinced that Einstein wrote instead some sort of confession which could change the world. Despite researching it for 12 years, Jacob hasn’t been able to find out what’s in the note. Now, with a job he loves, he’s ready to stop chasing Einstein’s last words. However, at the campus he meets Eddie Bellington who collects 50s memorabilia. Eddie also knows things about Jacob’s theories which Jacob has never shared with anyone. Eddie hints that he knows something new about Einstein’s secret and despite himself, Jacob is intrigued. Also, Jacob meets a beautiful woman and falls in love at first sight. A short while later, Jacob is fired and when Eddie asks him to visit a man who is supposed to know what Einstein wrote on his deathbed, Jacob agrees. A wild ride begins. Jacob is the first-person narrator. The time travel in this book squashes the alternate universe theory and makes history (somewhat) mutable. It, of course, makes the story much more immediate but it also opens a can of worms, especially concerning the ending. The story works, as along as you don’t think about it too much. As the characters say “time travel is messy”. This was a great mixture of fact and fiction. It also has surprisingly small cast of characters which makes it easier to follow the time travel. The only thing I didn’t like was the treatmeant of the story’s only female character, Laura. (Well, ok, the story has another named female character who is Einstein trusted assistant.) Jacob insists on “protecting” Laura by not telling her what’s going on, even when her life in danger. So, she’s left in the dark and even lied to. Otherwise, I rather enjoyed this story.

Get ready for the ride!!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. This is a rollicking, interesting, thoughtful, intelligent listen. People who would appreciate this would definitely appreciate this offering.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The protagonist is magic. Authentic, complex fun to follow.

What does Kevin T. Collins bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Consistency, authenticity, and fascination. Very very good performance.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did laugh at times and researched various topics touched.

Any additional comments?

This is an outstanding offering, interesting. smart and well performed. Well worth the credit and highly recommended.

Einstein's Secret

This book was a little slow too but it developed and turned into a great book.

Time travel is messy, this story... not so much

What I find in many stories of time travel is a messy mash up while trying to convey to the reader, or.... in this case, the listener.

I was thoroughly pleased with this audiobook.... so much so that I listened to it straight through.

In keeping with MY personal wants... the Narrator pleased me even more. There are only a few voices that hold my attention as deep as his and I shall seek out more books read by him.

The story itself is a delight to follow.... especially for a man like me in his late 50’s and having grown up in Pennsylvania, and having knowledge of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the Service Plazas... of which we referred to as “Ho Jo”, short for Howard Johnson’s. For this I applaud the author for this and many other facts that were pertinent to the era of the 50’s. I may have grown up in the 60’s but my knowledge of the area is extensive.... so it helped me to enjoy it more.

I have always been intrigued by time travel and Einstein.. I may not be a mathematician like him but you don’t need to be one to enjoy this book...in any format.

Step thru the wormhole.. and see what’s on the other side...

Enjoyable story

Read this for the second time and it's even better, it's a fun story.

I finished it but ... Eh

The story was ok the narrator was ok... I wouldn't diss it but I also wouldn't recommend it.

Synchronicity

Great fun engaging listen - the science is solid as is the conspiracy theory the story is based on

loved it

A great telling of time travel and the paradox it would cause
give it a listen

Boring!

I have been reading several time travel related books and this one was torture to finish. Just incredibly boring. Skip this unless you have nothing better to read.

Trite and Predictable

This was a $2 Audible add-on to my Kindle Unlimited subscription. For $2 and 5 hours it was meh- a trite and predictable time-travel-through-a-wormhole-chasing-Einstein-for an-explanation story.